In response to a lot of buyers who have an increased awareness of the environment and the impact of our emissions on it, more and more of the builders in The Woodlands are incorporating ‘green’ building techniques into their homes, either as standard features or as upgrades.
In addition to reducing their impact on the environment, lower utility bills are an added incentive for new home buyers to watch your energy consumption and assesss your ‘carbon footprint.’
Many of the builders here are part of the Energy Star program in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. There is a website www.energystar.gov that is full of ideas on how to make choices that are more energy efficient. Lighting, appliances and electronics are just a few of the things addressed on the site along with a way to use previous energy bills to analyze a home’s energy consumption and get ways to improve it. There is also an opportunity to hire an Energy-Star certified contractor to come out and do an on-site evaluation of your current usage and give you a personalized plan to lower your rate of usage.
Those folks who are really into the ‘green’ movement can actually access The Nature Conservancy’s website, http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/ and fill out information that will calculate your ‘carbon footprint’ and takes into account such things as travel, food choices, commute time, and other variables that will give you a good snapshot of your family’s impact on the environment.
1 response so far ↓
M Wilson // Mar 13, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I would like to find out if there are any builders in the Woodlands who are building environmentally friendly houses. That would mean not only energy efficient, but also using natural materials which are chemical free.
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